


To Name the Future

by noimalive



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, also hate the title but thats always the case for me, also i like thinking about the value of names, and stumbled upon a tender idea, i dont like the ending tho so i might change that, i was joking about the dregs thinking brekker is kaz's real name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noimalive/pseuds/noimalive
Summary: a snippet after Kaz meets Inej’s parents. they discuss names and new starts.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 96





	To Name the Future

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is my first time writing canon-compliance..hoping I can write without ridiculous scenarios in the background…

The sun was rising behind them when she said it. “Just Kaz?” Inej asked, stopping so she could face Kaz. This was how Inej spoke sometimes, gently prodding at his stony exterior, hoping for a direct answer instead of barbed retorts. Before, he wouldn’t have answered with any genuinity. But things were different now. She knew about Jordie and he had bought the boat and they had held hands. And, most recently, Kaz had met her parents, in a reunion made possible by his own hand. This was what she asked about. Why, she wondered, had he introduced himself only as Kaz? Why, when Inej’s father had inclined his head, clearly expecting a full name, had Kaz said those words? Kaz Brekker was a carefully crafted identity, a name with weight behind it. He knew Inej sought to understand why he would conceal this at such an important moment. 

At first, Kaz replied, “Perhaps I want to make a good impression. What parents want their daughter with a thief and a killer?” He said it with mirth, but it rang more true than he had intended. 

Inej narrowed her eyes, a bit of the morning light catching in her dark brown irises. “You forget that I am those things, too.” Kaz opened his mouth to respond, but she continued. “You don’t have to tell me, but I thought you might have a better answer than that.” There was something unspoken, the echo of his own thought: he might have a better answer because things were different now. 

So that was why he replied, “I wanted to be honest in my introduction. Your family deserves that, at least, from me.” 

Kaz watched Inej think on that for a moment, the quiet space filled with the sound of the bustling harbor. “I figured Brekker wasn’t your real last name,” she said, almost triumphant. That wasn’t quite the meaning he had meant, but Kaz let her have this victory. “It was one of the first things I looked into, when you made me your spy. Brekker is the name of an old Ketterdam family, they have a shipping company. It didn’t make sense for a gang lieutenant from the Barrel.” 

“Maybe it is my name, and I ran away from the family business to join the Dregs.” 

Inej smiled. “That’s why you and Wylan have so much in common, then?” 

“We actually met at a state dinner in the Van Eck mansion.” Kaz let Inej imagine the ridiculousness of this scenario, but stopped himself from continuing. “But Brekker is my real name, like I told you when we met. I picked it for myself, so it’s real enough.” 

“But what you are saying is, that maybe that isn’t so anymore.” They had stopped where a wooden railing lined the dock, and Inej leaned against it easily, her head tilted in sincere intrigue. Tendrils of dark hair hung around her face, curling slightly in the sea air. 

Kaz didn’t respond to this. Instead, he said, not quite knowing why he did, “Do you remember the jurda farmer?” 

Inej caught on immediately. “So that’s what the R stands for,” she said simply. 

Without confirming or denying her words, Kaz said, “It’s a reminder. After Jordie died, I had to start fresh. A new name for my new purpose. But the tattoo was a reminder of why I was doing it all.” This was how he knew things had changed: while Kaz still avoided directly answering Inej’s inquiries, he couldn’t keep himself from spilling more and more honest words from that place deep within him. Was it Inej’s questions, pulling the truth and emotion out like a fisherman reeling in his catch? No, there wasn’t such force or urgency to her presence; just the ever-present reminder that he might have a soul, a future beyond the dark of the past. 

“Is that what you want to do now? Start fresh?” Inej was speaking to him, but she gazed at the ocean. That would be her new start, a shipping setting sail, and Kaz had helped make it happen. Even if it meant Inej leaving, he didn’t regret his actions at all. She deserved freedom and justice, and the ability to fight for those things for other people. That was what Inej wanted; she had ambitions and dreams beyond her place in the Dregs, far from Kaz’s side in Ketterdam. Kaz would go to great lengths, ones that he did not like to think about much, to aid in Inej’s wishes. 

“Maybe,” Kaz said, half to himself. “But I’m not sure what to do now that I accomplished my goal.” 

“You’ve been driven by revenge for so long,” Inej said thoughtfully. “Who are you, without that?” Kaz hoped she was not looking for an answer. Before he could think of a response, Inej continued, “I have no wisdom to offer, only my own story. I never knew what my name meant to me, before the Menagerie. I had no name there, but Lynx. I was nothing but my skin and my silks. It had been months since I’d heard my name, when we met.” She paused, smiling, the memory playing across her face. Kaz recalled the same moment. The girl, still a stranger then, had nearly laughed at the sound of her own name. “That’s how I knew to feel hopeful. I’ve had many names since then- spider, Wraith- but in this new life I have only found my identity and value in ‘Inej Ghafa’ and that is who I will be in my future now. But your surname was for someone defined by this revenge. You need to decide who you are and what you want now that it is all over.” 

Kaz thought about Inej, leaving the Menagerie full of uncertainty; Inej, a deadly spy, saving their lives when the Ferolind was ambushed; Inej, determined to hunt slavers despite the uncaring system. Throughout, her identity and principles had remained unchanged, the same girl with the same name. He couldn’t say the same for himself. Kaz had changed, and Inej had been at his side for long enough to be a reason why. 

Kaz felt a sudden drive to match Inej’s earnestness. “I don’t know how,” he said slowly. “Not without you.” 

Inej shifted so that they were side-by-side, and when their hands brushed, they intertwined fingers wordlessly. It was easier than it had been the first time, Kaz’s breath hitching only for a second. “I’m not asking you to stay,” Kaz added, although he thought she might already understand. 

They walked for a minute, hand in hand. Before they reached the end of the dock, Inej said, “I can’t do it for you. Only be there with you as you figure it all out.” 

“Thank you, Inej.” 

“Of course, Kaz.”

With each other’s names on their lips, they parted ways.

**Author's Note:**

> so what im saying is that kaz takes inej’s name … 
> 
> also this isn’t last time they see each other theyre parting ways to get ready for dinner with the Ghafa fam tonight :)


End file.
